In the manufacture of containers such as disposable drinking cups, it is necessary to determine the strength of the containers at frequent intervals so that a uniform product can be maintained. To have a quality product there must be a fair degree of uniformity between not only the individual containers manufactured on a given line but also there must be uniformity between different production lines and even different production plants located remote from one another. Heretofore the testing of containers, such as cups manufactured of paper or more recently foamed plastic sheet stock and injection molded plastic techniques, has resulted in a wide variation of test values obtained on seemingly identical cups. Part of the problem was attributable to manner in which the cup was held or positioned by the test operator. Then too, the conversion of the deflections obtained as a result of applying a given load to a cup were subject to variations and even error. The inconsistencies found in the prior art cup testing apparatus and techniques were determined to be inadequate since it was difficult to obtain the same test values when test loads were applied by different operators and at different times.
The prior art test devices required highly trained personnel to operate the test equipment and to interpret the results thus obtained.